News Release

UDM Board of Trustees Names Interim President

The University of Detroit Mercy Board of Trustees elected an interim president and ratified the presidential search profile, developed by the presidential search committee on June 14.

University Board Chair John D. Lewis announced this afternoon, Executive Vice President Michael Joseph will act as interim president, effective July 1, 2010, when Father Gerard L. Stockhausen, S.J. steps down to assume the position of Executive Assistant to the President of the Jesuit Conference and Director of Planning for the Jesuit Conference in Washington, D.C. this summer. As interim president, Joseph will provide an effective working transition through the conclusion of the search, when new permanent leadership takes office.

According to Lewis, “The Board feels fortunate to be able to draw on Michael Joseph’s skills at this critical moment in our operating history. Institutional momentum is incredibly important to sustain through this leadership transition,” he added.

Since 2002, Joseph has worked at the University and was appointed executive vice president under the president and has overseen intercollegiate athletics, student affairs, university advancement and most recently academic affairs at the institution.

A native of Wheeling, West Virginia, Joseph graduated from Wheeling Jesuit University in 1980 with a bachelor’s in sociology and went on to earn his master’s degree in Organizational Management at Misericordia University, Dallas, Pa. in 1992. He and his family are members of Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish in Plymouth, MI.

“I am honored and humbled to serve this extraordinary University as interim president and look forward to building collectively on the momentum we have experienced under Father Stockhausen’s strong leadership,” Joseph said.